Are we taking rat poison?
” A1: Yes and no. While warfarin (= coumadin) was developed as a rat poison, it is not used any more for that purpose. The modern rat poisons are much more potent and toxic than warfarin. However, coumadin and rat poisons belong to the same class of drugs (coumarins) and work the same way: they “thin the blood” by antagonizing vitamin K. Q2: “I’m confused by one thing you said… you take K-DUR and eat lots of bananas, and are on coumadin? That’s completely opposite of what I was told to do. I was told to eliminate potassium (vitamin K) by 85% and keep record of what I eat that contains large amounts of it, such as bananas.” A2: Vitamin K is not potassium. “K” is the element symbol for potassium. It is unrelated to the vitamin which is called K. Vitamin K is needed to produce our clotting factors. Coumadin and the other coumarins “thin the blood” by antagonizing vitamin K. Potassium is frequently prescribed to a person on a diuretic. Some people use it for leg cramps. K-DUR and bananas c
